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Marshall McLuhan
'Herbert Marshall McLuhan '(July 21, 1911 – December 31, 1980) was a Canadian philosopher. He married Corinne Keller Lewis in 1939. He graduated from the University of Manitoba and eventually finished at Cambridge University with a Ph.D. in philosophy. After college, he moved on to teach at many different distinguished schools, becoming a full professor in 1952. Marshall McLuhan is known for many things, but most significantly, for coining the phrases, "the medium is the message" and "the global village". He was a key figure in the study of media theory and these two expressions were very important in his study of this field. Personal Marshall McLuhan was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His parents were Elsie Naomi and Herbert Ernest McLuhan. He also had a brother, Maurice, who was born two years after him. His mother was a schoolteacher who became an actress later in life. His father owned a real estate company in Edmonton. At the beginning of World War I, his father’s business failed and he was enlisted in the Canadian army. After his father was discharged from the army, the entire family moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba where Marshall grew up and attended school. Later in his life Marshall McLuhan married an English teacher (secondary) and aspiring actress named Corinne Keller Lewis. They were married on August 4, 1939 and went on the have six children named, Eric, Mary, Teresa, Stephanie, Elizabeth and Michael. In September of 1979, Marshall suffered a stroke. This stroke affected his ability to speak, and because of this, the University of Toronto closed his research center shortly after. Marshall McLuhan never fully recovered from his stroke and died in his sleep shortly over a year later.http://www.marshallmcluhan.com/biography/ Academic Career Marshall McLuhan attended the University of Manitoba from 1928 until 1934, obtaining a B.A. in 1932 and a M.A. in 1934. He then attended Cambridge University where he obtained a B.A. in 1936, a M.A. in 1939 and a Ph.D. in 1942. After his undergraduate and graduate work, he went on to become a professor at many different schools including, the University of Wisconsin from 1936 to 1937, St. Louis University from 1937 to 1944, Assumption University from 1944 to 1946 and finally at St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto from 1946 to 1979. He became a full professor at U of T in 1952. Major Works The Medium is in the Message Commonly believed, before Marshall McLuhan, was that the content of the message was more important the form that it was written. Marshall challenged this idea saying “the medium is in the message.” This was a very important part of his career as it made people think about the format of the message and how this may affect the meaning. This expression coined by McLuhan severely changed the view of the audience and the way everyone view the message that the media was being portrayedhttps://www.historicacanada.ca/content/heritage-minutes/marshall-mcluhan The Global Village The concept of the global village states that the entire globe has contracted into a small village. This has happened through the use of electronic technology. The constant and instantaneous movement of information is bringing the whole world closer in recent times. The term “the global village” is closely related to two of his books, The Gutenberg Galaxy and Understanding Media. http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/bas9401.html References